portion which was the back part of the blade. From a small hole in the blade near the edge hung a bunch of feathers which was used to distract the enemy, the fighter drawing the weapon swiftly to one side in front of his opponent's eyes. The kopere was a dart from 3ft 6in to 4 feet long, made of the hardest wood, the point having been hardened in fire and scraped. It was stuck loosely in the ground at an angle calculated to strike the object at which it was aimed. A stout piece of manuka about 4 feet in length, with a strong cord attached, would then be hitched loosely around the dart, the latter being propelled towards its objective by the operator pulling on the piece of manuka. The Ngatiwhakaue tribe of Rotorua were adept in its use, being able to hurl the dart anything from 70 to 80 yards. The hoeroa, a rare weapon made from whalebone, was from 4 to 6 feet in length. With a thong attached in order to retrieve it, this weapon was thrown at the enemy from the pallisades of a pa. It was much feared as there was no guard to parry it. The aforementioned were all two-handed weapons. These long weapons were usually placed inside the houses on the left-hand side of the door (facing it) where one could always find them in the dark without searching for them. They were single combat weapons. Of the short, striking weapons which were all used with one hand, the most intrinsically valuable as well as the most important was the green-stone mere. In fashioning one of these weapons, a piece of raw greenstone, absolutely without blemish, was carefully selected. Where possible this would be of sufficient size to produce not only a mere for the chief, but also a tiki for his wife. This latter, which was worn exclusively by women—was fashioned after the form of a human foetus. Greenstone was a source of wealth which could be given in payment for insult, dowry, or as presents to the dead. If a stranger of rank were to die away from his home, his body would be returned to his village together with flax and feathered cloaks and greenstone weapons and ornaments befitting his rank. Eventually, perhaps years later, presents of at least equal value would be returned to the people, as a means of honouring their dead. Greenstone, Jade or Nephrite, all as hard as steel, was highly prized and handed down from father to son or mother to daughter. Seven types were known and named. 1. Commonest of all was the very dark green. 2. Kawakawa, was also dark. 3. Tangiwai was translucent. 4. Kahurangi, light green. 5. Inanga—blue-grey, and the combinations of the dark green and the blue-grey, and the translucent and blue-grey. Of them all Tangiwai and Inanga were the most highly prized. Greenstone was worked by using pieces of quartsite, hard sand and water, Whalebone mere found in burial cave, now in possession of Mr S. Chapman, in his interesting private museum in Dargaville. (Photograph: J. Ashton.) much of the work being done under water. Other short striking weapons were made of basalt, wood, or whale-bone. Wooden weapons of this sort being used mainly in ceremony. The old time Maori warrior had a horror of dying in his bed, yet death in battle was almost looked forward to. This was certainly preferred to an ordinary illness. As a child he would have been placed under the protection of Tumatauenga—the mighty god of War—and at certain times during his life, rites, prayers and incantations would be recited over him as a means of invoking Tu—the War God—to give him courage, to make him strong in battle and to enable him to handle his weapons in such a way as to overcome his enemies. Also, on going into battle he was steeped very deeply in tapu. The fighting accomplished, he was not free to return to the pa until the tapu had been lifted by the Tohunga or priest. An ancient proverb runs: “He wahine, he whenua a ngaro ai te tangata”, which translated means “Women and land are the causes of war”, or “are the reasons whereby men are lost.” Except for a war apron which he wore around his waist a Maori always went naked into battle. To protect him from spear thrusts he sometimes wore over his shoulders a thick cloak tied at the front so as to leave his arms free. A war party was generally led by a chief of high standing and he would be accompanied by several other chiefs and warriors, fighting being for men of rank rather than for slaves. Yet the simple savage with his primitive defences, his obsolete methods of war, his inadequate weapons of stone and wood, was an easy prey to the pakeha's modern methods of destruction. Bullets were something beyond his comprehension leaving him amazed as in his bewilderment he attempted to stop them with his cloak.